Growing up in Indianapolis, my family and I often went to the Indiana Sate Fair. My fuzzy memories include paying all of my hard earned allowance money for about an hours worth of rides and games, eating way too much greasy food, and enjoying a great sugar buzz that lasted the whole weekend. The fair was designed for kids. I couldn't imagine an adult having any fun there in the middle of all the noise, flashing lights and loud music.

Now that I am (gulp!) an adult and living in Minnesota, I was not prepared for all this excitement over the “Great State Get Together.” The hoopla started weeks in advance as people began plotting parking strategies and gushed about fried cheese curds and nightly fireworks. Young and old alike, this fair was causing quite a stir! I was very anxious to see whether it would live up to all the hype - so my husband and I borrowed two kids, got in the car, and headed toward Snelling for our first Fair adventure.

First Impressions

We entered the fair next to the Ralston Purina barn - a large crowd was forming, straining to see something that was happening inside in a large glass booth. The crowd was do dense that we couldn’t see - but the reactions of those around intrigued us even more. Little kids sitting on their parent’s shoulders were covering one eye - unable to tear the other one away with both disgust and delight. We wound our way through the crowd to get a better view - It was a dog being spayed! We immediately made a u-turn and headed out of there. If we were going to get sick, it was going to be on a spinning ride, not watching doggie surgery!

The two kids (13 and 10) who were generous enough to accompany us to our first fair had been clamoring about the Midway all morning. As we circled for 40 minutes in the parking loop, they went on and on about how they couldn't wait to ride the rides and play the games.They were veterans. Having been many times before, they were mapping out a path through the midway that would include the most rides and games in the shortest distance. Meanwhile, Machinery Hill offered the kids a ride on every shiny red and green implement that had a seat -- for free! About 30 minutes later, they were ready to move on.

Up, Up and Away…

At last - the Midway! It was just about noon and it was definitely crowded. Our first stop was the ticket booth - waited in line for about 20 mintues and finally got what we thought were enough tickets to last us most of the day. Wrong! We were back less than 20 minutes later, cash in hand.

Tip for proud queasy-ride-avoiders: bring a camera to the fair! As we stood at the bottom of the Ring of Fire, an ominous vertical loop of roller coaster track, I knew right away that this was not a ride for me.

I get nauseous if I take a turn too fast with my shopping cart in the grocery! But of course I would never admit this to anyone - so instead I said, “No, you guys go, and I’ll take your picture!” We now have an incredibly unfocused picture of some guy’s back!

I did my fair share of “wimpy” rides, though, including the big slide (highly recommended!), the gondola cars (what a great view) and the Space Needle. Our borrowed 10 year old, who is afraid of heights, screamed and clenched her eyes shut the whole way up. When we got to the top, I coaxed her to open her eyes and look down for a second. She looked down, then looked at me and said, “This is lame!” I’m not sure what she was expecting - maybe that the Needle car would spin faster or turn upside down. Fortunately for me, the Space Needle’s main feature is a simply stunning view of both downtowns.

Fair Fare

My husband and I, both vegetarians, had been coached on what to expect as far as food options at the fair. We were to endure what we expected to be a carnivore's delight - with emu, ostrich and alligator as well as the traditional symbol of the State Fair - the Corn Dog. We were pleasantly surprised to see fresh fruit stands, sweet corn, vegetable fries, (Mmmmm! Two thumbs up!) and vegetable stuffed pitas. And of course - there is always cotton candy, although as I munched I couldn’t help but think about the insulation we had just fixed in our attic... Just for fun, we decided to count every food that was available on a stick. I think we got up to 7 .... (Let’s see, corn dogs, cheese, cheesecake, sausage, fruit, ...)

Been There...
Done That

We were full. We had ridden rides. We had spun upside down. We had tossed rings and basketballs and shot streams of water at tiny targets. We’d won a trophy and a giant Tweety Bird. We’d seen prize winning animals and flowers. We’d also seen a great cross section of Minnesotans. We were also out of money and it was starting to get dark.

Reluctantly, we headed back toward the Purina barn and our car. The lights on the rides were just starting to come on - and the effect of all the spinning and turning was strangely beautiful. And although we were sunburned, sweaty, greasy and tired, we had had fun.

Will we go again next year? You betcha!